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“Dare!” Emily pulled out the card that had been selected at random for Link. Her face lit up as she read the instructions. “Give Rhett a hickey,” she said articulately waiting for the room to erupt in chaos upon hearing it. It did not disappoint.
They were playing it up for the livestream, perhaps, but she couldn’t think of something more anticipated amongst this crowd. Link shut his eyes in frustration.
“Why do I gotta be the one to give one?” Link complained. “I’ve never even got one.”
“I don’t pick the dares, Link,” Emily said. “Well, I do, but other people suggested them. Ask them.”
She motioned to the camera where the fans that purchased dares to put in the pot would be waiting impatiently for him to carry on. Rhett only shrugged and pulled his hair to the side, revealing his neck.
“No one said it has to be neck!” Link exclaimed.
“Where else you wanna give me a hickey?” Rhett said, jokingly. They both took a quick glance down his long, lean body and frowned. Link shuddered.
“Fine, fine, ughhhhh,” Link complained. He pushed Rhett’s shoulder somewhat so he knew to bend his head to the side and make things easier. “You better not do anything stupid. I’m not doing this twice.”
Rhett only smirked, his eyes watery and bright. He knew how this must look and knew people were going to be ecstatic to see this happen. A small part of him was loving the fact that he’d finally be able to say he kissed a guy. Or a guy kissed him. Link kissed him. Bit him. Whatever.
Maybe Link had already bit him, but not like this.
He was sure Link would give it his full showmanship, so it felt like it was going to be different than those other times. Sure enough, before Link even started, he began with a long, lascivious lick.
Rhett recoiled and burst out laughing. It was too much. Link had just licked him like an envelope seal or a lollipop. He really did have a Thing about tasting stuff and apparently it applied to people, too. Rhett waved his hands around in immediate apology. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he declared, moving his hair away again and repositioning himself closer to Link. “It tickled!” he lied, trying to excuse his flinching.
Link rolled his eyes and situated himself closer. The excitement from the crowd had died down. There were some titters of laughter when Rhett pulled back but they were just as quickly extinguished. Everyone stared, silently, waiting for things to resume and progress.
Link leaned forward and instead of licking, the second time, he opened his mouth and sucked. Rhett’s own mouth fell open at the sensation. The few times he’d come close to getting a hickey in the past, it had been through hours of hesitant and repeated drags of teeth. It wasn’t that he disliked the feeling, but it was certainly nothing to write home about.
Immediately, Link’s mouth was doing something different. Link’s canines pressed down like a vampire perusing arteries and Rhett used all his will power not to squeak out a tiny, high-pitched noise in shock. Only a small puff of air escaped his mouth.
Link shook his head, clearly still frustrated at having to do this, and tilted his angle so he could latch better against Rhett’s throat. Now, the sucking and the licking happened simultaneous to the gentle drag of Link’s teeth along his skin.
Rhett gasped silently again and his eyes glazed over. He looked terrified.
Link kept it up, spinning his tongue in a circle, he nicked the skin again and again with his sharp incisors. Rhett put his arms on Link’s biceps as if he could hold him back. As if they weren’t currently attached at the neck and mouth. Link was amused at Rhett’s resistance enough to press his bites harder on Rhett’s skin to further increase his discomfort. It worked as Rhett finally let out a noise. It was a small, scared-sounding sigh, like he’d looked down from a great height for the first time and realized his predicament.
As if on cue, he swatted at Link’s arm gently, hoping the other man would get the message. He tapped the skin again until Link let up and pulled back slightly. “Ok, that’s enough,” Rhett asserted, sternly.
Given the antagonistic note Link had decided to take with the bit, he couldn’t help but frown at the command. “Is it even —” Link started before he was distracted looking over his handiwork. A circle of skin on Rhett’s neck was marred with dark pink, blotchy scratches brought out by Link’s mouth. “I guess that’s good enough,” Link assessed.
Rhett tried to look at it, but given the angle he only could see his shoulder. He waved Link off.
“No,” Rhett said again, coolly.
Link frowned harder. He leaned in with his back to the cameras in a way he knew would look like he was still merely glancing at Rhett’s neck. “It’s not?”
“No more,” Rhett expanded on his earlier response.
“Why?” Link whispered out of earshot of the boom mics and the rest of staff. Only Emily was closeby and she was giggling into her cue cards after letting off a zinger in response to what went on that neither man was coherent enough to catch.
Rhett’s eyes ticked up to meet Link’s. He didn’t want to get into it at all, but he knew Link wouldn’t let it go. He was more nervous that Link would press him to continue if he didn’t explain himself or draw attention to the problem. So, Rhett clarified through gritted teeth, “I’m hard.”
Link’s eyes barely dropped an millimeter before he caught himself and stepped back. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Rhett ground out.
“Great job, Link!” Emily called out, cutting through their terse rapport. “But I think you’re gonna like Rhett's next one better.”
Link blinked, feeling transported back to reality. The smattering of crew that was there to watch live clapped and laughed as the next Truth or Dare card that Davin had pulled and hand delivered was fluttered back and forth between the redhead’s fingers. “Ready?”
“No?” Link offered, honesty.
She laughed.
“Dare!” she called out. The room cheered. “Repeat the same dare as last time, but this time do it shirtless.”
More people cheered. Link felt himself blush from his neck down. He’d never had a hickey. That was the reason the dare had been suggested in the first place, he knew. Rhett pulling the original dare had been dumb luck. This was far dumber.
“I–but—” Link stammered.
Emily gave him a precipitous look encouraging him to start fulfilling the expectations of the dare before the crowd or live chat got rowdy. They didn’t need an excuse.
Rhett shook his head to stop Link's sputtering. His eyes screamed it’s fine, let’s just do it, so Link blinked away the unease and looked between the two of them. “Am I shirtless or is he?”
Rhett gave him a confused look and Emily balked. She pulled the card back and reread it to herself. “Good question! I’m not sure.” She shuffled the handful of truths and dares they’d done so far and then looked to the camera for producorial input. “I’m seeing yes, you.”
Link sighed. He pulled at his shirt and popped it over his head. Emily was distracted by the monitor, but she clapped lightly at the move. “I’m seeing a lot of ‘why not both’ comments in the chat, but we’re trying to keep it tame, here, folks.”
Some of the in-office crew snickered and clapped.
“Maybe as a stretch goal?” she offered, jokingly.
Rhett shifted very slowly, to keep his situation as invisible as possible to the wide angle lens trained on them all. He scooted his chair over, rather than stand up, so that he was shoulder to shoulder with Link.
“Should I do your goozle?” Rhett teased, trying to lighten the mood. Link’s overcast gaze didn’t budge. Rhett pushed on, knowing he wasn’t going to get anything more from his partner. “Okay, ready when you are.”
Link sighed and tilted his head.
“Shame we can’t pump in ‘Like A Virgin’ here, for effect. Copyright laws be damned,” Emily vamped, waiting for them to begin.
“Go,” Link interrupted Rhett’s lingering position in front of him. He’d bent over but not connected his mouth, yet. “Let’s go,” he said again, rushing Rhett to make a move.
As soon as he did, Link regretted it. Rhett’s mouth was huge, deceptively so. They’d teased him about it mercilessly, over the years, but Link was realizing that was, like most things to do with Rhett’s physical presence, based solely on perspective.
It may not fit as much as Link’s mouth could, but his lips and teeth were enormous. Having never done this before, all Link had to compare it to was his wife’s soft kisses to the same area which weren’t intended to leave marks, and it was very different. He sighed audibly because he couldn’t swallow, at first, and it was the only way to get air back to his lungs.
Dizzy and appalled, he felt Rhett’s beard drag along the surface before he felt the taller man’s teeth clamp down. When he did, Link suddenly knew exactly why Rhett had been so stressed. He instantly felt a pulse of desire travel through him and center in his groin. Oh, no.
Instead of duplicating the demure, stand-offish attempts that he had undertaken earlier, Rhett seemed immediately lost to the experience in a way that made things twice as difficult to make it through, unscathed. Link couldn’t help his arms from flailing around a bit, searching for purchase or to push Rhett away, he wasn’t sure which. Rhett’s hands raised up and easily settled Link’s limbs back between them. He let go having thought Link got the message. He misjudged Link’s level of euphoria.
Rhett was sucking and twirling his tongue in a way that tickled and aroused Link, both at once, so without any thought, Link wrapped his arms around Rhett’s broad shoulders and laced his fingers through Rhett's hair. He held the back of Rhett’s head and stroked him, gently. “Fuck,” he let out, abruptly.
Emily’s face went red with genuine shock. She searched for a camera to commiserate over what they were all witnessing. Rhett’s noises were loud and wet and constant, while Link threw his head back to encourage him to continue.
“Harder,” Link muttered, uncaring that they were in public. He could only focus on the way the switch from sharp to tender each time Rhett licked behind a nip was making his dick ache.
He realized that the comment was both a request and an admission. There’s no way Rhett was as hard as Link now was, straining his tight black jeans.
Rhett complied, nonplussed by the appeal. Link clutched the back of his head tighter, the curls of Rhett’s hair were strewn every which way.
Emily swallowed and took in the sight. She gave an uneasy smile. “I feel like interrupting this is going to get me put on some kind of list, so I’m just gonna hang out.”
Some of the crowd offered soft, agreeable laughter. Someone wolf-whistled.
Eventually, Rhett had to come up for air and when he did, Link leaned forward and smacked a peck on Rhett’s forehead.
They both realized they were still arm in arm and further pulled away. Rhett was careful to remain seated. He pulled his shirt straighter, a nervous habit, hoping any signs of hardness were obscured. Link’s shirt was still bunched in his palm, but his entire chest and neck were red. Some with blush and ardor, the rest with wet scrapes brought on by Rhett’s tongue and teeth.
“Wow!” Emily exclaimed, trying to get the show back on track.
Both stared at her, blankly.
“Let’s see ‘em!” Emily declared, waiting for the second camera to steady a close-up of one or both’s necks better. She saw the image pop up in the monitor and clapped her cards against her palm. “Link Neal, how does it feel to have finally gotten a hickey?”
Link shook himself out of his stupor enough to chuckle. “Weird!” he said, honestly.
He touched the damp skin and tried to use the monitor to look it over for himself. He could distinctly see where Rhett’s mouth had grazed him for the few minutes it went on. “Will you look at that?” he said, absently.
Emily shook her head. No one had been able to stop looking at it, contrary to Link’s light-hearted suggestion.
“Could stand to go easier on the nibblin',” Link added, sardonically.
Rhett’s daze was broken almost instantly. He gave Link a sharp look of annoyance. “That’s what hickies are, man.”
Link tsked at him and pulled his shirt over his head. With his chest covered, the hickey was even more pronounced against the dark color of his tight t-shirt.
“I know I used more tongue,” Link countered.
Rhett shook his head, playing up his mild frustration for show.
“Yeah, well. Your teeth are so sharp you didn’t need to do much to break skin. I’m lucky I’m not bleeding,” Rhett said, disgruntled. He wanted his turn at trading barbs and Link rolled his eyes, ready for it. “Almost burst a vein.”
The cameras were still on the two-shot that held their hickies in frame so it missed Link’s eyes flicking down from Rhett’s face to his midsection, knowingly.
“Maybe next time I’ll get lucky,” Link mumbled, jovially. “Bleed you dry.”
“Maybe,” Rhett said back, lightly. His eyes danced with amusement.
“I’m sorry, did you say next time?” Emily interjected in disbelief at the suggestion, their demeanor, all of it.
They both shrugged. It was the truth. They were definitely doing that again.